Chapter XIII: Part 13

"So fare the many; and the thoughtful few,
Who in the anguish of their souls bewail
This dire perverseness, cannot choose but ask, 660
Shall it endure?--Shall enmity and strife,
Falsehood and guile, be left to sow their seed;
And the kind never perish? Is the hope
Fallacious, or shall righteousness obtain
A peaceable dominion, wide as earth, 665
And ne'er to fail? Shall that blest day arrive
When they, whose choice or lot it is to dwell
In crowded cities, without fear shall live
Studious of mutual benefit; and he,
Whom Morn awakens, among dews and flowers[880] 670
Of every clime, to till the lonely field,
Be happy in himself? The law of faith
Working through love, such conquest shall it gain,
Such triumph over sin and guilt achieve?
Almighty Lord, thy further grace impart! 675
And with that help the wonder shall be seen
Fulfilled, the hope accomplished; and thy praise
Be sung with transport and unceasing joy.

"Once," and with mild demeanour, as he spake,
On us the venerable Pastor turned 680
His beaming eye that had been raised[881] to Heaven,
"Once,[882] while the Name, Jehovah, was a sound
Within the circuit of this sea-girt isle
Unheard, the savage nations bowed the head[883]
To Gods delighting in remorseless deeds; 685
Gods which themselves had fashioned, to promote
Ill purposes, and flatter foul desires.
Then, in the bosom of yon mountain-cove,[LC]
To those inventions of corrupted man
Mysterious rites were solemnised; and there-- 690
Amid impending rocks and gloomy woods--
Of those terrific Idols some received[884]
Such dismal service, that the loudest voice
Of the swoln cataracts (which now are heard
Soft murmuring) was too weak to overcome, 695
Though aided by wild winds, the groans and shrieks
Of human victims, offered up to appease
Or to propitiate. And, if living eyes
Had visionary faculties to see
The thing that hath been as the thing that is, 700
Aghast we might behold this crystal[885] Mere
Bedimmed with smoke, in wreaths voluminous,
Flung from the body of devouring fires,
To Taranis erected[LD] on the heights
By priestly hands, for sacrifice performed 705
Exultingly, in view of open day
And full assemblage of a barbarous host;
Or to Andates, female Power[LE] who gave
(For so they fancied) glorious victory.
--A few rude monuments of mountain-stone 710
Survive; all else is swept away.--How bright
The appearances of things! From such, how changed
The existing worship; and with those compared,
The worshippers how innocent and blest!
So wide the difference, a willing mind 715
Might almost think, at this affecting hour,[886]
That paradise, the lost abode of man,
Was raised again: and to a happy few,
In its original beauty, here restored.

"Whence but from thee, the true and only God, 720
And from the faith derived through Him who bled
Upon the cross, this marvellous advance
Of good from evil; as if one extreme
Were left, the other gained.--O ye, who come
To kneel devoutly in yon reverend Pile,[LF] 725
Called to such office by the peaceful sound
Of sabbath bells; and ye, who sleep in earth,
All cares forgotten, round its hallowed walls!
For you, in presence of this little band
Gathered together on the green hill-side, 730
Your Pastor is emboldened to prefer
Vocal thanksgivings to the eternal King;
Whose love, whose counsel, whose commands, have made
Your very poorest rich in peace of thought
And in good works; and him, who is endowed 735
With scantiest knowledge, master of all truth
Which the salvation of his soul requires.
Conscious of that abundant favour showered
On you, the children of my humble care,
And this dear land, our country, while on earth 740
We sojourn, have I lifted up my soul,
Joy giving voice to fervent gratitude.[887]
These barren rocks, your stern inheritance;
These fertile fields, that recompense your pains;
The shadowy vale, the sunny mountain-top; 745
Woods waving in the wind their lofty heads,
Or hushed; the roaring waters, and[888] the still--
They see the offering of my lifted hands,
They hear my lips present their sacrifice,
They know if I be silent, morn or even:[LG] 750
For, though in whispers speaking, the full heart
Will find a vent; and thought is praise to him,
Audible praise, to thee, omniscient Mind,
From whom all gifts descend, all blessings flow!"

This vesper-service closed, without delay, 755
From that exalted station to the plain
Descending, we pursued our homeward course,
In mute composure, o'er the shadowy lake,
Under[889] a faded sky. No trace remained
Of those celestial splendours; grey the vault-- 760
Pure, cloudless, ether; and the star of eve
Was wanting; but inferior lights appeared
Faintly, too faint almost for sight; and some
Above the darkened hills stood boldly forth
In twinkling lustre, ere the boat attained 765
Her mooring-place; where, to the sheltering tree,
Our youthful Voyagers bound fast her prow,
With prompt yet careful hands. This done, we paced
The dewy fields; but ere the Vicar's door
Was reached, the Solitary checked his steps; 770
Then, intermingling thanks, on each bestowed
A farewell salutation; and, the like
Receiving, took the slender path that leads
To the one cottage in the lonely dell:[LH]
But turned not without welcome promise made[890] 775
That he would share the pleasures and pursuits
Of yet another summer's day,[LI] not loth
To wander with us through the fertile vales,[891]
And o'er the mountain-wastes. "Another sun,"
Said he, "shall shine upon us, ere we part; 780
Another sun, and peradventure more;
If time, with free consent, be yours[892] to give,
And season favours."
To enfeebled Power,
From this communion with uninjured Minds,
What renovation had been brought; and what 785
Degree of healing to a wounded spirit,
Dejected, and habitually disposed
To seek, in degradation of the Kind,
Excuse and solace for her own defects;
How far those erring notions were reformed; 790
And whether aught, of tendency as good
And pure, from further intercourse ensued;
This--if delightful hopes, as heretofore,
Inspire the serious song, and gentle Hearts
Cherish, and lofty Minds approve the past-- 795
My future labours may not leave untold.

VARIANTS:

[Footnote 813: 1836.

_Vicious inclinations are best kept under by giving good
ones an opportunity to shew themselves_-- 1814.
]

[Footnote 814: 1836.

_deplored from want of due respect to this truth on
the part of their superiors in society_-- 1814.
]

[Footnote 815: 1836.

_Genuine principles of equality_-- 1814.
]

[Footnote 816: 1836.

_humblest--Happy_ 1814.
]

[Footnote 817: 1836.

_Wanderer breaks off--Walk to the Lake--embark--Description
of scenery and amusements--_ 1814.
]

[Footnote 818: 1820.

... has ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 819: 1827.

Of her own native vigour--but for this,
That it is given her thence in age to hear 1814.
]

[Footnote 820: 1827.

... tow'rds ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 821: 1832.

... will ever be allowed, 1814.
]

[Footnote 822: 1850.

... is it ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 823: 1827.

... which ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 824: 1845.

... upon ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 825: 1827.

... itself, ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 826: 1827.

... touches ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 827: 1827.

What more than this, that we thereby should gain 1814.
]

[Footnote 828: 1832.

They sweep away infection from the heart;
And, by the substitution of delight,
Suppress all evil; ... 1814.

They sweep distemper from the busy day,
And make the Vessel of the big round Year
Run o'er with gladness; ... 1827.
]

[Footnote 829: 1827.

... power 1814.
]

[Footnote 830: 1827.

... before your sight
A most familiar object of our days,
A Little-one, ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 831: 1827.

... my ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 832:

Through which she ... MS.
]

[Footnote 833: 1827.

... Sheep ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 834: 1827.

Which Women who have Children of their own
Regard without compassion, yea with praise!
I spake of mischief which the wise diffuse 1814.
]

[Footnote 835: 1827.

Within the reach ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 836: 1845.

... and death to be
Foretasted, immortality presumed. 1814.
]

[Footnote 837: 1814.

Bountiful ... C.
]

[Footnote 838: 1836.

... no special boon
For high and not for low, for proudly graced
And ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 839: 1836.

... haughty ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 840: 1836.

... betwixt ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 841: 1836.

But let us rather fix our gladdened thoughts 1814.

"But let us rather turn our gladdened thoughts 1827.
]

[Footnote 842: 1836.

... this is sure, ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 843: 1827.

... and to inform 1814.
]

[Footnote 844: 1836.

To drudge through weary life without the aid 1814.
]

[Footnote 845: 1827.

This right, as sacred almost as the right
To exist and be supplied with sustenance
And means of life, the lisping Babe proclaims 1814.
]

[Footnote 846: 1827.

... sacred ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 847: 1814.

That ... 1836.

The text of 1845 returns to that of 1814.]

[Footnote 848: 1827.

... acts 1814.
]

[Footnote 849: 1827.

To breed commotion and disquietude,
Each might preserve ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 850: 1836.

Amongst ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 851: 1827.

... do alike require
That permanent provision should be made
For the whole people to be taught and trained. 1814.
]

[Footnote 852:

... descend
Upon the humblest member of the State
Like ... C.
]

[Footnote 853: 1845.

With civil arts, and send their fragrance forth, 1814.

... that send ... 1827.
]

[Footnote 854: 1827.

From Culture, universally bestowed
On Britain's noble Race in freedom born;
From Education, from that humble source, 1814.
]

[Footnote 855: 1827.

... quiet ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 856: 1836.

The Lake though bright, is of a placid blue; 1814.
]

[Footnote 857: 1845.

Beneath her ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 858: 1827.

And down the Valley on the Streamlet's bank 1814.
]

[Footnote 859: 1832.

... I sometimes feel, ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 860: 1845.

... so serene and bright;
Like those reflected in yon quiet Pool,
Cannot be lasting in a world like ours,
To great and small disturbances exposed." 1814.

... so serene and bright;
Like those reflected in yon quiet pool,
Cannot be lasting in a world whose pleasure
(And whose best beauty, beautiful as it is)
Seems but a fleeting sun-beam's gift, whose peace
The sufferance only of a breath of air!" 1836.

... so serene and bright
Cannot be lasting in a world like ours,
One whose best beauty, beautiful as it is,
Like that reflected in yon quiet pool
Seems but a fleeting sun-beam's gift, whose peace
The sufferance only of a breath of air!" 1840.
]

[Footnote 861: 1836.

--When we had cautiously embarked, the Pair
Now for a prouder service were addrest;
But an inexorable law forbade,
And each resigned the oar which he had seized.
Whereat, with willing hand I undertook
The needful labour; grateful task!--to me 1814.
]

[Footnote 862: 1836.

... Now the reedy marge
Cleared, with a strenuous arm I dipped the oar, 1814.
]

[Footnote 863: 1836.

... bend ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 864:

... darksome ... C.
]

[Footnote 865:

... by youthful Pages served C.
]

[Footnote 866: 1836.

... partook
The beverage drawn from China's fragrant herb. 1814.
]

[Footnote 867: 1836.

... roused ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 868: 1827.

... there, ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 869: 1836.

... beach
It seems extinct; nor shall ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 870: 1836.

Thus did the Bark, meandering with the shore,
Pursue her voyage, till a point was gained
Where a projecting line of rock, that framed
A natural pier, invited us to land. 1814.

Thus did the Bark, meandering with the shore,
Pursue her voyage, till a natural pier
Of jutting rock invited us to land. 1827.
]

[Footnote 871: 1827.

... and thence obtained,
Slowly, a less and less obstructed sight 1814.
]

[Footnote 872: 1836.

Of ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 873: 1827.

Of the whole lake-- ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 874: 1827.

... presiding o'er the Vale
And all her Dwellings; seemingly preserved 1814.
]

[Footnote 875: 1845.

From the intrusion of a restless world 1814.
]

[Footnote 876: 1827.

With resting-place of mossy stone;--and there
We sate reclined--admiring quietly
The frame and general aspect of the scene;
And each not seldom eager to make known 1814.
]

[Footnote 877: 1836.

... ne'er ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 878: 1836.

Pierced through their thin etherial mould, ere we,
Who saw, of change were conscious, had become 1814.

Ere we, who saw, of change were conscious, pierced
Through their ethereal texture, had become 1827.
]

[Footnote 879: 1827.

... Image of Thyself. 1814.
]

[Footnote 880: 1836.

Whom morning wakes, among sweet dews and flowers 1814.
]

[Footnote 881:

... henceforward raised ... C.
]

[Footnote 882: 1827.

... and unceasing joy.
Once, while the Name ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 883: 1827.

... their heads 1814.
]

[Footnote 884: 1827.

Of those dread Idols, some, perchance, received 1814.
]

[Footnote 885: 1827.

... spacious ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 886: 1836.

At this affecting hour, might almost think 1814.
]

[Footnote 887: 1827

On your Abodes, and this beloved Land,
Our birth-place, home, and Country, while on Earth
We sojourn,--loudly do I utter thanks
With earnest joy, that will not be suppressed. 1814.
]

[Footnote 888: 1827.

... or ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 889: 1836.

Beneath ... 1814.
]

[Footnote 890: 1845.

... in the lonely dell,
His chosen residence. But, ere he turned
Aside, a welcome promise had been given, 1814.

But turned not without welcome promise given, 1827.
]

[Footnote 891: 1845.

Of yet another summer's day, consumed
In wandering with us through the Vallies fair, 1814.

... given up
To wandering ... C.
]

[Footnote 892: 1814.

... is yours ... 1827.

The text of 1845 returns to that of 1814.]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote KJ: "On the side of Loughrigg Fell, at the foot of the lake, and looking down upon it and the whole Vale and its encompassing mountains, the Pastor is supposed by me to stand, when at sunset he addresses his companions."--I. F.]

[Footnote KK: Compare _Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey_ (vol. ii. p. 55, l. 100)--

A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things. ED.
]

[Footnote KL: The vale of Langdale rather than that of Grasmere. It was the cottage at Hackett that was, by "the magician's wand," converted into the "Parsonage." Possibly, however, the allusion may be to Fairfield, or Stone Arthur.--ED.]

[Footnote KM: The Rothay.--ED.]

[Footnote KN: A phrase now familiarized to English ears by Mr. Arnold's use of it.--ED.]

[Footnote KO: See Wordsworth's note, p. 390. Compulsory Elementary Education was secured to Scotland by the Education Act of 1872, and to England by the Act of 1880.--ED.]

[Footnote KP: A promontory in Valencia, facing the Balearic Isles.--ED.]

[Footnote KQ: The reference is to Napoleon Buonaparte, and his designs of conquest, "oppression," and "destruction."--ED.]

[Footnote KR: See note, p. 371.--ED.]

[Footnote KS: Compare _Yarrow Unvisited_, ll. 43, 44 (vol. ii. p. 412)--

The swan on still St. Mary's Lake
Float double, swan and shadow. ED.
]

[Footnote KT: Compare _The Prelude_, book ii. ll. 54-57 (vol. iii. p. 155)--

When summer came,
Our pastime was, on bright half-holidays,
To sweep along the plain of Windermere
With rival oars. ED.
]

[Footnote KU: Dr. Cradock, the Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, wrote to me in 1878: "The Lake is of course, in the main, that of Grasmere, 'the grassy mountain's open side' being avowedly Loughrigg Terrace. But, according to Wordsworth's habit, he has drawn his imagery from various other places--as the island of Grasmere is not 'with birch-trees fringed.' (This may well refer to Rydal.) Again, I know of no 'lilies of the vale' at Grasmere, but they are found, I believe, on one of the islands of Windermere, certainly in woods near the river Leven, below that lake. Again, the vicar refers to 'two islands' on the lake, but Grasmere has only one. I never saw a goat 'browsing by dashing waterfalls,' still less 'spotted deer' on or near Grasmere."

It seems to me that the description refers, first to Rydal lake, and then to Grasmere. The company descend, as will be seen, along a streamlet to a bridge, where they see a ram reflected in the water. They then go into a boat, and sail to the 'rocky isle with birch-trees fringed.' This cannot refer to the island in Grasmere, but it _may_ refer to the larger one in Rydal. Even the 'dashing waterfall' may be the small one in the beck that descends between Nab Scar and White Moss Common. But if this be correct, and if the whole party are supposed to ascend Loughrigg Terrace later on, proceeding to a point whence they can view the vale of Grasmere, there are still some difficulties in localising the details.--ED.]

[Footnote KV: Probably the terrace walks on Loughrigg are here referred to.--ED.]

[Footnote KW: Compare _The Prelude_, book ii. ll. 59-61 (vol. iii. p. 155)--

... a Sister Isle
Beneath the oaks' umbrageous covert, sown
With lilies of the valley like a field. ED.
]

[Footnote KX: See note, p. 371.--ED.]

[Footnote KY: See note, p. 371.--ED.]

[Footnote KZ: Loughrigg.--ED.]

[Footnote LA: Of Grasmere.--ED.]

[Footnote LB: Loughrigg Fell. See the Fenwick note, p. 15, and p. 374 line 6.--ED.]

[Footnote LC: The reference may be to the crater-like recess or "cove," on Helm Crag, or to the more distant recesses of Easdale.--ED.]

[Footnote LD: A name of Jupiter among the Druids in Gaul. Toland, in his _History of the Druids_ (p. 247), gives a list of the _Dii Gallorum_, beginning with _Taramis_ and ending with _Adraste_ or _Andate_. And, in an edition of Toland's _History_, edited with elaborate notes by R. Huddleston, schoolmaster, Lunan, and published at Montrose in 1814, I find the following, p. 357:--"Taramis, or _Taranis_, is the Gaelic _Taran_, or _Tharan_, _i.e._ 'thunder.' This god is the same with the Grecian _Zeus_, or the Roman _Jupiter_. By this deity the Celts understood _Baal_. _Taranis_, or _Tharanis_, is sometimes written _Tanaris_, or _Thanaris_, which bears a great affinity to the English _thunder_, the German _Donder_, and the Roman _Tonitru_. Lucan mentions him (lib. i.) in these words--

Et Taranis Scythicæ non mitior ara Dianæ.

From the Celts the Germans borrowed _Tharanis_, and by abbreviation formed their God _Thor_, whence _Thursday_, the same as the Roman _Dies Iovis_." Compare Southey's _Book of the Church_, vol. i. p. 5.--ED.]

[Footnote LE: The same editor of Toland's book on the Druids, whose comment on Taranis is given in the previous note, writes thus of Adraste, or Andate, p. 359:--"Respecting this goddess there has been some difference of opinion. The Greeks seem to have considered her as _Nemesis_, or the goddess of revenge.... There can be little doubt that the goddess here meant is the Phœnician _Ashtaroth_, or _Astarte_, _i.e._ 'the moon.'" See Dio Cassius, i. 64.--ED.]

[Footnote LF: Grasmere Church.--ED.]

[Footnote LG: Compare _Paradise Lost_, book v. 1. 202--

Witness if I be silent, morn or even. ED.
]

[Footnote LH: At Blea Tarn.--ED.]

[Footnote LI: See the Fenwick note, p. 15.--ED.]

NOTES

The following are the notes which Wordsworth added to _The Excursion_ in the edition of 1814. In the case of the second, it will be observed that a new note was substituted in 1827 for that of 1814 and 1820. In other respects these "notes" remained unaltered throughout the editions, from 1814 to 1850. I have not thought it necessary to indicate the few, and very slight, changes in the phraseology of separate sentences. The text of the passages, on which the notes are based, is taken from the edition of 1850.--ED.

Preface, page 25.

_Descend, prophetic Spirit! that inspir'st_
_The human Soul_, etc.

Not mine own fears, nor the prophetic Soul
Of the wide world dreaming on things to come.
_Shakspeare's Sonnets._--W.W. (1814).

Page 43.

----_much did he see of men._

In Heron's Tour in Scotland is given an intelligent account of the qualities by which this class of men used to be, and still are in some degree, distinguished, and of the benefits which society derives from their labours. Among their characteristics, he does not omit to mention that, from being obliged to pass so much of their time in solitary wandering among rural objects, they frequently acquire meditative habits of mind, and are strongly disposed to enthusiasm poetical and religious. I regret that I have not the book at hand to quote the passage, as it is interesting on many accounts. (1814.)

At the risk of giving a shock to the prejudices of artificial society, I have ever been ready to pay homage to the aristocracy of nature; under a conviction that vigorous human-heartedness is the constituent principle of true taste. It may still, however, be satisfactory to have prose testimony how far a Character, employed for purposes of imagination, is founded upon general fact. I, therefore, subjoin an extract from an author who had opportunities of being well acquainted with a class of men, from whom my own personal knowledge emboldened me to draw this portrait.

"We learn from Cæsar and other Roman Writers, that the travelling merchants who frequented Gaul and other barbarous countries, either newly conquered by the Roman arms, or bordering on the Roman conquests, were ever the first to make the inhabitants of those countries familiarly acquainted with the Roman modes of life, and to inspire them with an inclination to follow the Roman fashions, and to enjoy Roman conveniences. In North America, travelling merchants from the Settlements have done and continue to do much more towards civilising the Indian natives, than all the missionaries, papist or protestant, who have ever been sent among them.

"It is farther to be observed, for the credit of this most useful class of men, that they commonly contribute, by their personal manners, no less than by the sale of their wares, to the refinement of the people among whom they travel. Their dealings form them to great quickness of wit and acuteness of judgment. Having constant occasion to recommend themselves and their goods, they acquire habits of the most obliging attention, and the most insinuating address. As in their peregrinations they have opportunity of contemplating the manners of various men and various cities, they become eminently skilled in the knowledge of the world. _As they wander, each alone, through thinly-inhabited districts, they form habits of reflection and of sublime contemplation._ With all these qualifications, no wonder, that they should often be, in remote parts of the country, the best mirrors of fashion, and censors of manners; and should contribute much to polish the roughness, and soften the rusticity of our peasantry. It is not more than twenty or thirty years since a young man going from any part of Scotland to England, of purpose to _carry the pack_, was considered as going to lead the life and acquire the fortune of a gentleman. When, after twenty years' absence, in that honourable line of employment, he returned with his acquisitions to his native country, he was regarded as a gentleman to all intents and purposes."--Heron's _Journey in Scotland_, vol. i. p. 89.--W.W. (1827).

Page 110.

_Lost in unsearchable eternity!_

Since this paragraph was composed, I have read with so much pleasure, in Burnet's Theory of the Earth, a passage expressing corresponding sentiments, excited by objects of a similar nature, that I cannot forbear to transcribe it.

"Siquod verò Natura nobis dedit spectaculum, in hâc tellure, verè gratum, et philosopho dignum, id semel mihi contigisse arbitror; cùm ex celsissimâ rupe speculabundus ad oram maris Mediterranei, hinc æquor cæruleum, illinc tractus Alpinos prospexi; nihil quidem magìs dispar aut dissimile, nec in suo genere, magìs egregium et singulare. Hoc theatrum ego facile prætulerim Romanis cunctis, Græcisve, atque id quod natura hîc spectandum exhibet, scenicis ludis omnibus, aut amphitheatri certaminibus. Nihil hîc elegans aut venustum, sed ingens et magnificum, et quod placet magnitudine suâ et quâdam specie immensitatis. Hinc intuebar maris æquabilem superficiem, usque et usque diffusam, quantum maximùm oculorum acies ferri potuit; illinc disruptissimam terræ faciem, et vastas moles variè elevatas aut depressas, erectas, propendentes, reclinatas, coacervatas, omni situ inæquali et turbido: Placuit ex hâc parte Naturæ unitas et simplicitas, et inexhausta quædam planities; ex alterâ, multiformis confusio magnorum corporum, et insanæ rerum strages: quas cùm intuebar, non urbis alicujus aut oppidi, sed confracti mundi rudera, ante oculos habere mihi visus sum.

"In singulis ferè montibus erat aliquid insolens et mirabile, sed præ cæteris mihi placebat ilia, quâ sedebam, rupes; erat maxima et altissima, et quâ terram respiciebat, molliori ascensu altitudinem suam dissimulabat: quà verò mare, horrendúm præceps, et quasi ad perpendiculum facta instar parietis. Prætereà facies ilia marina adeò erat lævis ac uniformis (quod in rupibus aliquando observare licet) ac si scissa fuisset à summo ad imum, in illo plano, vel terræ motu aliquo, aut fulmine divulsa.

"Ima pars rupis erat cava, recessusque habuit, et saxeos specus, euntes in vacuum montem; sive naturâ pridem factos, sive exesos mari, et undarum crebris ictibus: In hos enim cum impetu ruebant, et fragore æstuantis maris fluctus, quos iterum spumantes reddidit antrum, et quasi ab imo ventre evomuit.

"Dextrum latus mentis erat præruptum, aspero saxo et nudâ caute; sinistrum non adeò neglexerat Natura, arboribus utpote ornatum: et prope pedem montis rivus limpidæ aquæ prorupit, qui cùm vicinam vallem irrigaverat, lento motu serpens, et per varios mæandros, quasi ad protrahendam vitam, in magno mari absorptus subito periit. Denique in summo vertice promontorii, commodè eminebat saxum, cui insidebam contemplabundus. Vale augusta sedes, Rege digna: Augusta rupes, semper mihi memoranda!" P. 89. _Telluris Theoria sacra, etc. Editio secunda._--W. W. 1814).

Page 139.

_Of Mississippi, or that northern stream._

"A man is supposed to improve by going out into the _World_, by visiting _London_. Artificial man does; he extends with his sphere; but, alas! that sphere is microscopic; it is formed of minutiæ, and he surrenders his genuine vision to the artist, in order to embrace it in his ken. His bodily senses grow acute, even to barren and inhuman pruriency; while his mental become proportionally obtuse. The reverse is the Man of Mind: he who is placed in the sphere of Nature and of God, might be a mock at Tattersall's and Brooks's, and a sneer at St. James's: he would certainly be swallowed alive by the first _Pizarro_ that crossed him:--But when he walks along the river of Amazons; when he rests his eye on the unrivalled Andes; when he measures the long and watered savannah; or contemplates, from a sudden promontory, the distant, vast Pacific--and feels himself a freeman in this vast theatre, and commanding each ready produced fruit of this wilderness, and each progeny of this stream--his exaltation is not less than imperial. He is as gentle, too, as he is great: his emotions of tenderness keep pace with his elevation of sentiment; for he says, 'These were made by a good Being, who, unsought by me, placed me here to enjoy them.' He becomes at once a child and a king. His mind is in himself; from hence he argues, and from hence he acts, and he argues unerringly, and acts magisterially; his mind in himself is also in his God; and therefore he loves, and therefore he soars."--From the notes upon _The Hurricane_, a Poem, _by William Gilbert_.[LJ]

The Reader, I am sure, will thank me for the above quotation, which, though from a strange book, is one of the finest passages of modern English prose.--W.W. (1814).

Page 149.

_'Tis, by comparison, an easy task_
_Earth to despise_, etc.

See, upon this subject, Baxter's most interesting review of his own opinions and sentiments in the decline of life. It may be found (lately reprinted) in Dr. Wordsworth's _Ecclesiastical Biography_.--W.W. (1814).

Page 152.

_Alas! the endowment of immortal Power,_
_Is matched unequally with custom, time_, etc.

This subject is treated at length in the _Ode, Intimations of Immortality_.--W.W. (1814).

Page 156.

_Knowing the heart of man is set to be_, etc.

The passage quoted from Daniel is taken from a poem addressed to the Lady Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, and the two last lines, printed in Italics, are by him translated from Seneca. The whole Poem is very beautiful. I will transcribe four stanzas from it, as they contain an admirable picture of the state of a wise Man's mind in a time of public commotion.

Nor is he moved with all the thunder-cracks
Of tyrant's threats, or with the surly brow
Of Power, that proudly sits on others' crimes;
Charged with more crying sins than those he checks.
The storms of sad confusion that may grow
Up in the present for the coming times,
Appal not him; that hath no side at all,
But of himself, and knows the worst can fall.

Although his heart (so near allied to earth)
Cannot but pity the perplexed state
Of troublous and distressed mortality,
That thus make way unto the ugly birth
Of their own sorrows, and do still beget
Affliction upon Imbecility;
Yet seeing thus the course of things must run,
He looks thereon not strange, but as fore-done.

And whilst distraught ambition compasses,
And is encompassed, while as craft deceives,
And is deceived: whilst man doth ransack man,
And builds on blood, and rises by distress;
And th' Inheritance of desolation leaves
To great-expecting hopes: He looks thereon,
As from the shore of peace, with unwet eye,
And bears no venture in Impiety.

Thus, Lady, fares that man that hath prepared
A rest for his desires; and sees all things
Beneath him; and hath learned this book of man,
Full of the notes of frailty; and compared
The best of glory with her sufferings:
By whom, I see, you labour all you can
To plant your heart! and set your thoughts as near
His glorious mansion as your powers can bear. (1814.)

Page 221.

_Or rather, as we stand on holy earth.
And have the dead around us._

_Leo._ You, Sir, could help me to the history
Of half these graves?

_Priest._ For eight-score winters past,
With what I've witnessed, and with what I've heard,
Perhaps I might; ...
By turning o'er these hillocks one by one,
We two could travel, Sir, through a strange round;
Yet all in the broad highway of the world.

See the Author's poem of _The Brothers_, published in the "Lyrical Ballads," in the year 1800.--W.W. (1814).

Page 233.

_And suffering Nature grieved that one should die._

_Southey's Retrospect_.--W.W. (1814).

Page 233.

_And whence that tribute? wherefore these regards?_

The sentiments and opinions here uttered are in unison with those expressed in the ... Essay upon Epitaphs, which was furnished by me for Mr. Coleridge's periodical work, _The Friend_; and as they are dictated by a spirit congenial to that which pervades this and the two succeeding books, the sympathising reader will not be displeased to see the Essay here annexed.[LK]--W.W. (1814).

Page 236.

_And spires whose 'silent finger points to heaven.'_

An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches in flat countries with spire-steeples, which as they cannot be referred to any other object, point as with silent finger to the sky and stars, and sometimes, when they reflect the brazen light of a rich though rainy sunset, appear like a pyramid of flame burning heaven-ward. See _The Friend_, by S. T. Coleridge, No. 14, p. 223.--W. W. (1814).

Page 308.

_That sycamore, which annually holds_
_Within its shade, as in a stately tent._

This Sycamore oft musical with Bees;
_Such Tents_ the Patriarchs loved.

_S. T. Coleridge_.--W.W. (1814).

(It is in his _Inscription for a fountain on a Heath_.--ED.)

Page 323.

_Perish the roses and the flowers of kings._

The "Transit gloria mundi" is finely expressed in the Introduction to the Foundation-charters of some of the ancient Abbeys. Some expressions here used are taken from that of the Abbey of St. Mary's, Furness, the translation of which is as follows:--

"Considering every day the uncertainty of life, that the roses and flowers of Kings, Emperors, and Dukes, and the crowns and palms of all the great, wither and decay; and that all things, with an uninterrupted course, tend to dissolution and death: I therefore," etc.--W.W. (1814).

Page 331.

----_Earth has lent_
_Her waters, Air her breezes._

In treating this subject, it was impossible not to recollect, with gratitude, the pleasing picture, which, in his Poem of _The Fleece_, the excellent and amiable Dyer has given of the influences of manufacturing industry upon the face of this Island. He wrote at a time when machinery was first beginning to be introduced, and his benevolent heart prompted him to augur from it nothing but good. Truth has compelled me to dwell upon the baneful effects arising out of an ill-regulated and excessive application of powers so admirable in themselves.--W. W. (1814).

Page 363.

_Binding herself by statute._

The discovery of Dr. Bell affords marvellous facilities for carrying this into effect; and it is impossible to over-rate the benefit which might accrue to humanity from the universal application of this simple engine under an enlightened and conscientious government.--W. W. (1814).

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote LJ: _The Hurricane, a Theosophical and Western Eclogue, etc._, by William Gilbert, London, 1797. Compare Wordsworth's notes to _The Brothers_.--ED.]

[Footnote LK: In this edition, it finds a more appropriate place in the _Prose Works_.--ED.]

APPENDIX

NOTE A

(See p. 2)

The grave of James Patrick,--the pedlar whose character and habits gave rise to "The Wanderer" of _The Excursion_,--may still be seen in the church-yard within the town of Kendal. The following extract from the _Papers, Letters, and Journals of William Pearson_, edited by his widow, and printed in London, in 1863, for private circulation, refers to Patrick. "He" (_i.e._ William Pearson) "sometimes went to Kendal on Sundays, in order to worship with Unitarians, in the old Presbyterian _meeting-house_. This quiet secluded building, though situated in the heart of the town, is overshadowed by trees, beneath which rest many worthies of departed times: one of whom, James Patrick, was the prototype of 'The Wanderer' of _The Excursion_. A plain mural slab, outside the east wall of the chapel--which was his spiritual home--bears the following inscription:--

NEAR THIS PLACE ARE BURIED
JOHN PATRICK OF BARNARD CASTLE,
WHO DIED MAY 10TH, 1753, AGED 51 YEARS;
MARGARET, THE DAUGHTER
OF JAMES AND MARY PATRICK,
WHO DIED NOVEMBER 26TH, 1767, IN HER INFANCY;
JAMES PATRICK OF KENDAL,
WHO DIED MARCH 2D, 1787, AGED 71 YEARS.

"When staying in Kendal, with his friend Mr. Thomas Cookson, Mr. Wordsworth himself was an occasional worshipper, along with the family, at this chapel; and thus became acquainted with the minister, the Reverend John Harrison, and with one of his congregation, the well-known blind mathematician and botanist, Mr. John Gough, with the delineation of whose remarkable powers and character the poet has enriched his _Excursion_; and in turn, has, by the touch of his genius, imparted to them a lustre that will not fade, whilst English Literature shall endure." (p. 13).

NOTE B

(See p. 115)

The following is an extract from Dr. Daniel G. Brinton's work, the _Myths of the New World_.

"As in oriental legends, the origin of man from the earth was
veiled under the story that he was the progeny of some mountain
by the embrace of Mithras or Jupiter, so the Indians often
pointed to some height or some cavern as the spot whence the
first of men issued, adult and armed, from the womb of the
All-mother Earth. The oldest name of the Alleghany Mountains is
Paemotinck, or Pemolnick, an Algonkin word, the meaning of which
is said to be "The origin of the Indians."

"The Witchitas, who dwelt on the Red River among the mountains
named after them, have a tradition that their progenitors issued
from the rocks about their homes, and many other tribes, the
Tahkalis, Navajos, Coryoteras, and the Hailians, for instance,
set up this claim to be autochthones....

"All those tribes, the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chicasaws,
and Natchez, who, according to tradition, were in remote times
banded into one common confederacy under the headship of the
last-mentioned, unanimously located their earliest ancestry near
an artificial eminence in the valley of the Big Black River, in
the Natchez country, whence they pretended to have emerged....

"A parallel to this southern legend occurs among the Six Nations
of the north. They with one consent, if we may credit the account
of Cusic, looked to a mountain near the falls of the Oswego
River, in the State of New York, as the locality where the
forefathers first saw the light of day, and that they had some
such legend the name Oneida, people of the Stone, would seem to
testify....

"An ancient legend of the Aztecs derived their nation from a
place called Chicomoztoc, the Seven Caverns, located north of
Mexico. Antiquaries have indulged in all sorts of speculations
as to what this means.... Caverns and hollow trees were in fact
the homes and temples of our first parents, and from them they
went forth to conquer and adorn the world; and from the inorganic
constituents of the soil acted on by Light, treated by Divine
Force, vivified by the Spirit, did in reality the first of men
proceed.

"This cavern, which thus dimly lingered in the memories of
nations, occasionally expanded to a nether world, imagined to
underlie this of ours, and still inhabited by beings of our
kind, who have never been lucky enough to discover its exit. The
Mandans and Minnetarees, on the Missouri River, supposed this
exit was near a certain hill in their territory...."--_Myths of
the New World_, pp. 224-8.

Mr. Edward B. Tylor, Oxford, suggests that the legend referred to may be that described in Falkner's account of the Moluches.

"They believe that their good deities made the world, and that they first created the Indians in their caves, gave them the lance, the bow and arrows, and the stone-bowls, to fight and hunt with, and then turned them out to shift for themselves. They imagine that the deities of the Spaniards did the same by them.... They have formed a belief that some of them after death return to their divine caverns," etc. (Falkner's _Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America, etc._, chap. v. pp. 114-5, by Thomas Falkner, Hereford, 1774.)

See also Edward B. Tylor's _Early History of Mankind_, p. 313.--ED.

NOTE C

(See p. 140)

For the following letters in reference to the "Muccawiss," I am indebted to Mr. Henry Reed,--son of the late Professor Reed of Philadelphia,--whose assistance in all matters relating to Wordsworth in America has been invaluable.

"NO. 400 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA,
"_September 26th, 1883_.

"MY DEAR MR. KNIGHT--Dr. Brinton tells me that Muccawiss is the Algonquin for whip-poor-will, and he will ascertain for me the precise spelling, and, if possible, the book from which W. W. probably got his information.--Yours sincerely,

HENRY REED."

"115 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET,
"_September 27th, 1883_.

"DEAR SIR--I have failed to find the exact word used by Wordsworth--muccawiss. The nearest to it is 'moshkaois,' which signifies 'bittern,' a water-fowl of the diver class, to which the name has reference, it being a derivative from a verb meaning to rise to the surface of the water. The word is no doubt of Algonkin origin, and I would suggest that you write to the Algonkin scholar, _par excellence_, of our country, Colonel J. Hammond Trumbull, Hartford, Conn., who is both able and willing to solve all the enigmas of that difficult tongue.--Very truly yours,

D. G. BRINTON."

"Henry Reed, Esq."

"NO. 400 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA,
"_October 2nd, 1883_.

"MY DEAR MR. KNIGHT--I enclose a letter from Colonel Trumbull, which I think you will find satisfactory.--Yours very sincerely,

HENRY REED."

"HARTFORD, CONN., _September 29th, 1883_.

"HENRY REED, Esq., Philadelphia.

"DEAR SIR--Wordsworth's 'Muccawis' was, certainly, a Whip-poor-will, and he must have taken the Indian name, directly or at second-hand, from Carver's _Travels_. Among the birds 'found in the interior parts of North America,' Carver (chap. 18) describes 'the Whipper-will, or, as it is termed by the Indians, the _Muckawis_.... As soon as night comes on, these birds will place themselves on the fences, stumps, or stones that lie near some house, and _repeat their melancholy notes without any variation_ till midnight,' etc. So Wordsworth's

Melancholy muccawis
Repeated, o'er and o'er, his plaintive cry.

"I have an impression--which I have not just now leisure to verify--that Carver's description of this and some other American birds was reprinted in the _Gentleman's Magazine_. Two or three English editions of the _Travels_ had been printed before _The Excursion_ was written.

"I find no other authority for this 'Indian' name. The Chippeway name for the Whip-poor-will is (as given by Tanner or Dr. E. James) _Wâwonaissa_. Nuttall states, the Delaware name was _Wecoâlis_: Zeisberger wrote it _Wecoolis_.--Yours sincerely,

J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL."

"_P.S._--Carver did not name 'the merry mocking-bird'--which Wordsworth makes the companion of the 'Muccawis'; but Campbell had heard of 'the _merry mock-bird's_ song,' and copied a description of it from Ashe's _Travels in America_, in a note to _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809), pt. i. st. 3."

Since receiving these letters I have ascertained that Wordsworth had in his library at Rydal Mount--whether he had it at Allan Bank I cannot say--a copy of one of the English editions of Carver's _Travels_.

Compare _Wanderings in South America, etc._, by Charles Waterton--a work which was also in Wordsworth's library at Rydal. I quote from a recent edition (1879). See pp. 99, 111, 199, and 488:--

"When in thy hammock, should the thought of thy little crosses and disappointments, in thy ups and downs through life, break in upon thee, and throw thee into a pensive mood, the owl will bear thee company. She will tell thee that hard has been her fate too; and at intervals 'Whip-poor-will' and 'Willy-come-go' will take up the tale of sorrow. Ovid has told thee how the owl once boasted the human form, and lost it for a very small offence; and were the poet alive now, he would inform thee, that 'Whip-poor-will' and 'Willy-come-go' are the shades of these poor African and Indian slaves, who died worn out and broken-hearted. They wail and cry, 'Whip-poor-will' and 'Willy-come-go' all night long; and often, when the moon shines, you see them sitting on the green turf, near the houses of those whose ancestors tore them from the bosom of their helpless families, which all probably perished through grief and want, after their support was gone." (p. 99).

"The Caprimulgus wheels in busy flight around the canoe, while 'Whip-poor-will' sits on the broken stump near the water's edge, complaining as the shades of night set in" (p. 111).

The following is from _Ornithological Biography, or an Account of the Habits of the Birds of America_, vol. i. p. 422, by John James Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831.

"Whip-poor-will, _Caprimulgus vociferus_, a species of Night-jar. Immediately after the arrival of these birds their notes are heard in the dusk and through the evening, in every part of the thickets, and along the skirts of the woods. They are clear and loud, and to me are more interesting than those of the Nightingale.... The Whip-poor-will continues its lively song for several hours after sunset, and then remains silent until the first dawn of day, when its notes echo through every vale, and along the declivities of the mountains, until the beams of the rising sun scatter the darkness that overhung the face of Nature. Hundreds are often heard at the same time in different parts of the wood, each trying to outdo the others.... The cry consists of three distinct notes, the first and last of which are emphatical and sonorous, the intermediate one less so. These three notes are preceded by a low cluck, which seems preparatory to the others. A fancied resemblance which its notes have to the syllables _whip-poor-will_ has given rise to the common name of the bird."

NOTE D

(See p. 173)

A translation of the passage from Pausanias is quoted in the text. I append extracts from some letters I have received on the subject. The first are from Mr. Heard, Fettes College, Edinburgh.

_October 5th._

"I cannot find a reference to Cephisus; but I send you a passage in point from Homer, _Iliad_, 23, 140. I rather suspect Wordsworth had this passage in mind, for no commentator I have quotes a parallel; in which case he has either forgotten _Spercheius_ as the river, or substituted, on purpose, the better known Attic river.

"Achilles offers to the dead Patroclus the locks which his father had vowed to Spercheius, if ever he returned to his native land:

ἔνθ᾿ αὖτ ἄλλ᾿ ἐνόησε ποδάρκης δῖος Αχιλλεύς
στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς ξανθὴν ἀπεκείρατο χαίτην
τήν ῥα Σπερχειῷ ποταμῷ τρέφε τηλεθόωσαν
ὀχθήσας δ᾿ ἄρα εἶπεν ιδὼν ἐπὶ οἴνοπα πόντον
Σπερχεί᾿, ἄλλως σοίγε πατὴρ ἠρήατο Πηλεὺς
κεῖσέ με νοστήσαντα ϕίλην ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν
σοί τε κόμην κερέειν.

_October 13th._

"I have discovered the reference to the Cephisus. It is from Pausanias, 1, 37, 3. I transcribe the passage: you will notice the reference to the Spercheius of the _Iliad_.

"πρὶν δὲ διαβαεναι τὸν Καεφισόν, Θεοδώρου μνῆμά ἐστι τραγῳσίαν ὑποκριναμένου τῶν καθ᾿ αὑτὸν ἄριστα. ἀγάλματα δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ Μνησιμάχης, τὸ δὲ ἐτερον ἀνάθημα κειρομένου οἰ τὴν κόμην τοῦ παιδὸς ἐπὶ τῷ Καϕισῷ. καθεστάναι δὲ ἐκ παλαιοῦ καὶ τοῖς πᾶσι τοῦτο ῞Ἑλλαεσι τῇ Ὁμήρου τις ἂν τεκμαίροιτο ποιήσει, ἃς τὸν Παελέα εὄξασθαί ϕησι τῷ Σπερχειῷ κερεῖν ἀνασωθέντος ἐκ Τροίας Αχιλλέως τὴν κόμην.

"There can be little doubt that Wordsworth had this passage in mind. The Cephisus is the Attic one; this is a statue, which Pausanias saw on the banks of the river, of the son of Mnesimache cutting his locks over the stream."

Professor Campbell writes:--"The Homeric passage is _Iliad_, 23, 140-151, where Achilles cuts off for Patroclus the lock of hair, which _his father Peleus_ had vowed to the river Spercheius in case of his son's safe return. This is referred to by Plato,--_Rep._ 3, 391 B,--who regards it as an act of impiety to have given that, which was sacred to the river, to a dead body.

"Unless the passage in Pausanias is singularly apposite, I should think that this passage must have been in Wordsworth's mind, and that by a perfectly legitimate use of poetic freedom, in speaking of the later Greek civilisation, he had put the Attic in place of the Phthiotic river."

Since receiving Mr. Heard's letter, I have found that Wordsworth possessed a copy of Thomas Taylor's translation of Pausanias's _Description of Greece_, published in 1794, a copy of that work having been sold at the Rydal Mount sale in 1859. Bishop Wordsworth of St. Andrews has also directed my attention to the following note to Pope's translation of the _Iliad_, a copy of which his uncle possessed. Book xxiii. 175.

"It was the custom of the ancients not only to offer their own hair, but likewise to consecrate that of their children to the river-gods of their country. This is what Pausanias shews in his Attics; _Before you pass the Cephisa_, says he, _you find the tomb of Theodorus_, _who was the most excellent actor of his time for tragedy; and_, _on the banks you see two statues_, _one of Mnesimachus_, _and the other of his son_, _who cut off his hair in honour of the rivers; for that this was in all ages the custom of the Greeks_, _may be inferred from Homer's poetry_, _where Peleus promises by a solemn vow to consecrate to the river Sperchius the hair of his son_, _if he returns safe from the Trojan war_. This custom was likewise in Egypt, where Philostratus tells us that Memnon consecrated his hair to the Nile. This practice of Achilles was imitated by Alexander at the funeral of Hephæstion."

It is likely that Wordsworth had read this note to the annotated edition (1763) of Pope's _Homer_; but it is also probable that he was familiar with the passage in Pausanias.

NOTE E

(See p. 303)

Many particulars regarding John Gough may be found in Cornelius Nicholson's _Annals of Kendal_, pp. 355-368 (Whitaker and Coy., 1861). He was born in 1757 and died in 1825. "Before the completion of his third year, he was attacked with small-pox, which deprived him of his sight. The whole globe of the left eye was destroyed: the damage done to the other was not so extensive: for, though the greater part of the cornea was rendered opaque, there was a minute pellucid speck to the right of the pupil, which permitted a ray of light to fall upon the verge of the retina, and thus he was enabled to distinguish between day and night: but he had no perception of the form or colour of objects around him; so that, for all useful purposes, vision was completely lost." But his marvellous sense of touch, as described by Wordsworth, was in no degree exaggerated. In his eighth summer, he began the study of botany; and pursued it systematically in his thirteenth year. "His method of examining plants must be briefly told. Systems of classification were but little valued, except so far as they aided him in recognising individual form. The plant to be examined was held by the root or base in one hand, while the fingers of the other travelled slowly upwards, over the stem, branches, and leaves, till they reached the flower. If the species had been already met with, this procedure was sufficient for its recognition; if it proved to be a novelty, its class was first determined by the insertion of the tip of his tongue within the flower: thus he discovered the number and arrangement of the stamens and pistils. When the flower was small he requested his reader to ascertain these points with a lens. The class and order being determined, the genus was next worked out, word by word of the description, so far at least as the state of the specimen would allow. But his perceptive power over form was most conspicuous in the analysis of species. It was truly wonderful to witness the rapidity with which his fingers ran among the leaves, taking cognizance of their divisions, shape, serratures, and of the presence or absence of hairs. The finest down was detected, by a stem or leaf being drawn gently across the border of his lower lip; so fine, indeed, that a young eye often required a lens to verify the truth of the perception. Another peculiarity is worthy of notice. Repeated perusal of descriptions had enabled him to prefigure in his mind's eye, the form without the presence of specimens; so that, when a species for the first time came within his touch, he at once named it from memory.... It was, probably, on one of these occasions, that Mr. Wordsworth, while describing the little cushion-like plant, with white roots and purple flowers, growing near Grisedale Tarn, caught the first glimpse of that conception which was afterwards expanded into the beautiful picture given of Mr. Gough in _The Excursion_."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in his Essay on _The Soul and its Organs of Sense_, refers to him as "not only an excellent mathematician, but an infallible botanist and zoologist. He has frequently, at first feel, corrected the mistakes of the most experienced sportsmen, with regard to the birds or vermin which they had killed, when it chanced to be a variety or rare species, so completely resembling the common one, that it required great steadiness of observation to detect the difference, even after it had been pointed out." "Good heavens!" added Coleridge, "why his face sees all over!"

Gough died in the 69th year of his age; and he was buried, not (as Wordsworth puts it in _The Excursion_) at Grasmere, but in the churchyard of Kendal. What is more remarkable is that he lived for ten years after _The Excursion_ was printed; and Wordsworth must have written the passage in the Seventh Book referring to Gough in anticipation of his death, probably 13 years before he died.

Mr. John Watson of Kendal tells me that he has had put into his hands a MS. autobiography of Gough. Mr. Watson has himself written an interesting sketch of the blind botanist.

See the passage in _The Excursion_, book vii. l. 492, etc., referring to Gough.--ED.

END OF VOL. V

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_

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